The Turkey Season

When the narrator was 14 she got a job as a turkey gutter at the Turkey Barn for the Christmas season. The other people who worked there were Lily and Marjorie and Gladys, who were also gutters; Irene and Henry, who were pluckers; Herb Abbott, the foreman, and Morgan Elliott, the owner, and his son Morgy. Gladys was Morgan's sister, and she remained somewhat aloof from the others. It was rumored that she was after Herb, who was a competent, steady man, surrounded by an air of mystery. He taught the narrator how to gut. She wondered about and admired Herb; it was only later that she surmised he might be a homosexual. Lily and Marjorie often teased Gladys about herself and Herb, and they also complained often about their husbands. One day near Christmas the Barn had a new gutter - Brian, 18 or 19 years old, and a friend or relative of Herb's. Although Brian was very good-looking he wasn't well-liked because of his crude behavior and foul language. Noone complained to Morgan, not even Gladys, whom Brian particularly enjoyed tormenting. On the last school day before Christmas the narrator got out of school early. When she came to the Barn, no one was working, but someone was yelling. It was Morgan, who was directing his abuse at Brian. She heard the words "pervert" and "filthy" and heard Morgan tell Brian he had to be out of town that day. Brian left; Gladys was said to be "recovering". No one ever told the young student-gutter what had happened. Later, remembering Herb's ashamed look at the time, she decided that Brian had been Herb's lover. Everyone posed for a Christmas picture which Herb shot and then left the Turkey Barn as the Christmas Eve snow fell.